Kisses in the Dark
by bram4eva
Summary: When Brittany meets Sam for the first time, she can hardly believe it. After being alone and in the dark for so long, another person being there feels like a heaven blessing. Will the young captives be able to work together to get themselves out of their situation or are they doomed forever?
1. Creaks and Groans

Sitting in the dark of the cellar where she had been trapped for nearly a year now, every sound sent shivers down Brittany's spine. Even the almost silent groan of the house above her moving in the wind scared her. What little light she got from the tiny vent at the top of the room only showed her the ever present cuts and bruises on her body. She preferred to stay away from the light so she didn't have to see the damage to her broken body. Once a day, a small flap would open at the bottom of the door that led into the cellar and a small plate of food, usually just some bread and a tiny bit of meat with the occasional slice of fruit, would be shoved through along with a glass of water. Brittany would weakly crawl over and eat the food as quickly as possible, not thinking to save any just in case. Her only thought would be to eat as much as she could to ease the pain of continual hunger, if only for a little while. The small pile of thin blankets served as Brittany's bed where she spent every night tossing and turning feverishly, remembering the day she was kidnapped.

She had been walking home after a wonderful day at school. She had joined the cheerleading group and had quickly become friends with a pretty blonde girl named Quinn and a gorgeous Latina named Santana. At lunch that day the three girls had decided to be best friends and always be there for each other. Little did they know, the three had already been dubbed 'The Unholy Trinity' on account of Quinn being the bitchy Queen Bee and Santana having a quick tongue and was good with her words, easily insulting people she didn't like. Brittany on the other hand, seemed to be the weaker link of the three and just followed the lead of her two friends. By the end of the day, the three of them could walk down any hallway in the school without having to get out of anyone's way; everyone moved for them.

That afternoon, eager to tell her parents about her new friends, Brittany had decided to walk home in the beautiful July sun instead of catching the bus, a decision that would haunt her for ages to come. Only metres away from her street, a black van approached her, pulling into the driveway in front of her. Two big men, both of whom were wearing balaclavas, jumped out of the back of the van an grabbed her roughly, one of them putting his hand over her mouth before she could scream. They dragged her into the van and slammed the door shut, yelling at someone to drive. Brittany was terrified but she knew she should try to get away, she bit down on the hand over her mouth and the man screamed, pulling his hand away. Then she kicked as hard as she could at the other man, sending him crashing into the door. The man who'd had his hand over her mouth had apparently recovered and slammed her head into the back of the seat in front of her. Everything went black.

When she woke, she was gagged, sitting on a chair with her ankles tied to the chair legs and her wrists bound behind her. The two men, still wearing their balaclavas were standing in front of her, one with a baseball bat in his hands. Once they saw she was awake they grinned at each other and approached her. Only then did Brittany realise she was not longer wearing her clothes. And, she noticed the man without the baseball bat was busy undoing his jeans.

"Scream and you get a nice bonding with my bat." the man had told her, pulling off her gag and straddling her. He stroked a hand down her face.

"Why all the sad face, dearie? I won't hurt you, I promise." he said, in a sickly sweet voice, just before he rammed himself into her. Brittany had to bite down hard on her lip to keep herself from screaming at the pain.

"Don't like it? I'm so sorry. How about now, precious?" he asked, ramming into her harder. Brittany could taste blood in her mouth as she bit down even harder on her lip. She let a sob escape and tears trickled down her face. The man saw the tears and seemed to take pity on her, pulling out of her and pulling his pant back on, his back towards her. He looked like he was about to leave when he suddenly spun back around, slapping her across her face.

"Stupid bitch! Don't you know you're supposed to enjoy making love?" he screamed at her, spitting in her face. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and concentrated on her breathing. Meanwhile, the man continued to hit and punch her, screaming at her the whole time about her needing to learn manners and respect. A final blow to her temple knocked her out again and the next time she woke she found herself in the cellar where she had now come to call home, covered in bruises and dried blood. The days that followed contained similar rape and abuse to that first day and Brittany soon gave up hope of ever getting out alive and seeing her friends again.


	2. Smiles and Tears

The day after meeting Brittany, Quinn walked into the school and made her way to her locker where she had planned to meet Santana and Brittany. The Latina girl was already there, leaning against the wall and filing her nails.

"Hi. Where's Britt?" Quinn asked, dumping her bag into her locker. Santana shrugged and put the nail file in her pocket. None of them had their Cheerios uniform yet so they were still wearing ordinary clothes.

"I don't know. I last saw her yesterday. She was walking home from school. I tried calling her last night but she didn't answer. It was pretty late though so she could have been asleep." she said, sounding bored. She was exactly sure why Quinn had let the girl be part of their group. She wasn't anything special, in fact, she was actually a bit stupid. The two girls shrugged it off and headed to first period, pinkie fingers linked; a thing the three girls had decided they would always do when they were together.

About halfway through class, a scared looking freshman knocked on the door. Mr Schuester, the teacher went to the door where he had a hushed conversation with the student. He smiled at the student and told them they could go before heading over to where Quinn and Santana were working on their Spanish.

"Principal Figgins wants you two girls in his office now. " he told them. They looked up in surprise. They hadn't done anything wrong that would require them to be sent to the Principal's office.

"Do you know what for sir?" Quinn asked, sweetly, playing the perfect teacher's pet. The other students rolled their eyes behind her back. The Spanish teacher shook his head.

"No. But apparently it's urgent. I wouldn't keep him waiting if I were you, girls." he said.

"Okay. Should we take our books with us?" Santana asked, smiling sweetly. She also knew how to play at teacher's pet and both girls could do it well. Mr Schuester smiled back at the girls.

"I would. I don't know how long you'll be." The two girls quickly packed up their belongings and walked out of the room, knowing that everyone was watching them. As soon as they were out of the room, they bust into giggles at how taken Mr Schuester had been with their act. They made their way to the principal's office where they found a middle-aged couple sitting on the couch and the principal sitting across the room from them with a young police officer.

"Ah. Miss Fabray, Miss Lopez. Take a seat, please." the principal instructed them. Nervously, the two girls sat in the chairs that he indicated.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering in why you've been called here." the police officer said. Both girls nodded.

"First of all, these are Mr and Mrs Pierce, Brittany's parents. We know you two are Brittany's friends, yes?" the principal asked.

"Yes. But only since yesterday." Quinn said, smiling uncertainly at him.

"We were wondering if you knew anything about young Miss Pierce's whereabouts. It seems she did not come home last night." the police officer informed the girls, who gasped.

"You-you mean she's missing?" Santana asked.

"Yes. After Brittany did not arrive home, Mr and Mrs Pierce called the police. The area between the school and her house has been thoroughly searched with no sign of her." the officer explained.

"The last time I saw her was just after I left school. She was walking along the road, I guess she was walking home." Santana said, a tear escaping from her eye. She quickly wiped it away, not wanting to seem weak.

"I haven't seen her since the end of the day yesterday." Quinn said.

"And you've had no contact with her since then?" Both girls looked at the police officer in surprise.

"No. Well, I tried to call her but she didn't answer. I figured she might be sleeping because it was fairly late." Santana replied.

"And I don't even know her number. She never gave it to me." Quinn noticed that Brittany's parents were now crying.

"Okay. Thank-you girls. We will do our best to find her and we will let you know if we find out anything, okay? You can head back to class now, if you feel up to it, otherwise, you can go to study hall for a while." the principal told the girls. They picked up their things and left the office, deciding not to go to class.

"What do you think's happened?" Quinn asked, genuinely worried for the blonde girl.

"I don't know. I just hope she's okay." Santana said, giving her friend a hug.


	3. Threats and Consequences

A loud bang woke Brittany up. She hadn't realised she'd fallen asleep and quickly picked herself up off the floor, knowing that her captors were coming. After the first few days of being held captive, the men had finally given her clothes back but by now they were dirty and blood stained and didn't provide much warmth. She ran her fingers through her hair, knowing she would get beaten if she didn't look nice. After trying to get a particularly big knot out of her hair, she gave up. It was not use fixing her hair anyway, the amount of blood and dirt that covered her would get her another beating anyway.

"Hey. Girl, come here." the gruff voice that belonged to the man who had raped her on the first day called out to her in the darkness. She went over to where he stood, silhouetted by the light from the room behind him. Brittany hadn't been out of her prison for nearly a week now so the brightness of the room hurt her eyes and made her squint.

"I thought I told you, you're supposed to look nice when I come and get you." he said, slapping her across the face. The cut she'd received on the first day began bleeding again and she raised her hand to her face to hide it. The man sighed and took hold of the top of her ear, twisting it painfully as he led her to the room with the chair where she was continually raped. Knowing what she had to do, she obediently stripped off her clothes, went over to the chair and sat on it. Then she bent over and tied her ankles to the chair legs and put the gag in her mouth, holding it there while the man tied it behind her head, pulling it roughly. He then tied her hands behind her back and stood, looking at her. He tilted his head to the side.

"Very good. You know the drill. But I don't think you were fast enough, do you?" he asked and went over to the corner of the room where he kept things like baseball bats, whips with metal ends, chains and other various things. He slowly selected a small pocket knife and went back over to her. She watched him as he stood in front of her, playing with the knife and let out a small whimper. As soon as he heard the sound, he lunged forward until he was right in her face. Her eyes widened as she felt the blade press into the crease of her elbow and slowly slide up, cutting her arm. The blood trickled down her arm and off her fingers onto the floor. The man just watched her and laughed.

"Well, now that you've been punished, I've got a treat for you. It's not going to be me who you get to make love to today. No, I'm getting a little tired of your lack of appreciation. We've gone and gotten a friend for you to play with." he told her. As he finished speaking, the door opened and the second man, who Brittany referred to as 'Shaggy' on account of his beard that never seemed to be groomed came in, dragging a young blonde boy behind him.

"Ah, here we go. Now, get him undressed while I set up the video." the first man, Brittany called him 'Gruff' because of his voice, said, going out of the room. Shaggy turned the boy around and began to pull at his shirt. The boy, who'd apparently been drugged, seemed to come out of his stupor and realised what was happening. He saw Brittany sitting on the chair watching and his eyes widened. He tried to fight Shaggy but the man had already tied the boy's wrists together and so any thing he did was useless. Brittany tried to tell him to just do what they said, shaking her head and squeaking, but it made no sense to the boy because of the gag in her mouth. Just as Shaggy got the boy's pants off, Gruff came back in, carrying a video camera and tripod. He set it up in the corner of the room, the camera trained on Brittany's chair.

"Alright, are you two ready to have some fun?" he asked, clapping his hands together once. Both Brittany and the boy looked at him.

"You two are going to make love. Girl, try to be more affectionate to him than you are to me. You'll be recorded so you don't want anyone who sees this to think you two aren't in love, do you?" He asked, pulling the knife out of his pocket. Brittany shook her head fiercely. The boy was shocked. How could this girl just let these men do what they wanted to her? There was no way they could force him to have sex with her, he didn't even know who she was.

"I can see your new friend isn't willing to play just yet. Let's teach him a little lesson about what happens here when you don't do what your told, shall we?" Gruff said to Brittany before going over to the boy.

"You will do what we tell you to, our we will find that cute little sister of yours, and she will become your next meal." he threatened. The boy's eyes widened in shock. He could already see that they meant what they said, judging from the state of the girls on the chair. He swallowed hard and nodded his head. Gruff smiled.

"Good. Now, you two will have sex for two hours, no less and if I see that either of you are not being properly appreciative of each other at all, you will both get a beating and no food tomorrow, am I clear?" both Brittany and the boys nodded, eyeing each other warily.

"Good. You will begin as soon as we leave the room, no delays." He went over to Brittany and took the gag out of her mouth again. Then he pressed record on the camera and went to the door. He was about to step out but he turned back.

"And no talking either. You can scream if you want, no-one will hear you." He laughed to himself and shut the door behind him and they both heard the lock click. The boy immediately went over to her and straddled her. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then slowly lowered himself into her.

For two hours, the pair sat on the chair, the boy digging deeper into Brittany each time. After that first plunged the two allowed their lips to meet and they kissed deeply. At one point, when the boy was sucking on her neck, he suddenly whispered the word 'Sam' in her ear. then he moved to the other side of her neck, using his head to hide her mouth from the view of the camera as she whispered 'Brittany' into his ear.

After two hours, Gruff came back and roughly pulled Sam off Brittany, shoving him against the wall where he hit the back of his head and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. He shoved the gag back into Brittany's mouth, untied her feet and picked up her clothes, leading her back to the cellar. Throwing the clothes into the room, he untied the gag and her wrists and shoved her through the door.

"Your friend will be joining you as soon as we're done with him. Make sure you look presentable." He told her as he slammed the door shut. She quickly put her clothes back on and then sat, shivering on the floor, listening to the dull thuds coming from above her that meant Sam was being beaten. After nearly an hour, the door opened and Sam was pushed in, clutching his clothes to his chest.

"You were supposed to be presentable, girl." Gruff said and punched her. Then he threw two more thin blankets down on the ground for Sam to sleep on and left.


	4. Conversation and Repitition

Brittany watched silently as Sam put his clothes on. Her cheek was still bleeding a little from where the cut had reopened and so she was cradling it in the palm of her hand. Blood tricked down from a gash across Sam's back where it looked like the men had whipped him. He let out a soft groan as the skin moved when he put his shirt back on.

"Let me help you." Brittany offered, going over to him and gently pulling the shirt down.

"Thanks. I'm sorry if I hurt you before by the way. I just can't let anything happen to my sister." he said sitting down on the blankets. Brittany sat down beside him.

"That's okay. If you did hurt me, I didn't feel it. After being here so long, I just go numb every time I'm in that room." Sam looked at her sharply.

"How long have you been here?"

"Almost a year. I guess I'm kind of a mess." she said, looking down at the floor.

"That long? How on earth have you survived?" Sam was shocked that someone could survive this kind of abuse for so long.

"I don't know. I lost hope in being found alive a while back."

"So you've never tried to escape?"

"Yeah, I have, but the house upstairs is like a rabbit warren and they always find me before I get to the front door. Then I get beaten or raped, whichever they feel like doing that day." Sam gasped.

"I know where I've seen you before!" he cried, studying her face in the darkness.

"Where?"

"The posters around Lima. I moved there about four months ago. Every street corner had a dozen posters of you. The hallways of the school were literally covered in photos of you as well." He told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. There were these two girls, a hot blonde and a Latina, they were always out asking questions. Trying to find you. You sound surprised." he said.

"Well, I only moved to Lima about a month before I was taken. I had two friends, Quinn and Santana but we only became friends the day I was taken. I didn't think many people would have cared that the dumb blonde that followed the two most popular girls was kidnapped." she explained. Suddenly there was a loud thud on the floor of the room above them.

"Shh! Don't talk. They're coming back." Brittany hissed at him, getting up and brushing herself off as much as she could. Sam watched her, confused as she went over to the door and stood there waiting. After a moment, the door opened.

"Ah, I see your friend hasn't learnt yet. I will have to teach him a lesson, then won't I? And you, girl, are not exactly looking your best either, you'll have to be punished." Brittany nodded meekly and waited for the beating to begin. It never came. Instead she was dragged out of the room again. This was the first time that she'd been out of the room twice in one day. She was taken back to the room with the chair, only this time, the chair was gone, a large bed had taken it's place.

"Strip and get on the bed, face down." Gruff told her and pushed her towards the bed. Sam was dragged into the room as well then and told to strip. He nervously did as he was told, watching Brittany the entire time. She climbed onto the bed and lay on her stomach. Scruffy and Gruff then tied her hands to he headboard and her ankles to the bottom of the bed.

"Alright. We didn't find your love-making convincing enough before but we thought it was probably because you were on a chair, so we've decided that your future love-making sessions can be on this bed." Scruffy told them and once again set up the camera in the corner of the room.

"Two more hours of love making, same restrictions as before. Halfway through, you can turn the girl over and she can eat you." Gruff told them. It took a moment for Brittany to realise what 'eat you' meant but when she did, she let out a small whimper, earning herself and slap across her back. She heard the door slam shut and felt the bed move as Sam climbed on top of her. Leaning down over her back, he whispered in her ear.

"I'll be gentle, I promise." He then proceeded to gently lower himself into her, trying to make it look as though this was the woman he loved, even though he'd only met her a few hours ago. When an hour was up, Sam slowly untied the knots binding Brittany to the bed and gently turned her over. He looked into her eyes for a moment before looking away and turning around, positioning himself above her mouth. He paused for a moment, praying that this would soon be over. He took in a sharp breath when he felt Brittany grab hold of him and guide him into her mouth where she used her tongue to massage him. He let himself go after only a few moments and then turned back around, beginning to kiss her as he plunged himself deeper than ever into her.


	5. Secrets and Suspense

Two days had passed since Sam had arrived. They had decided to sleep near each other at night to try and keep a little warmer. The two men had not taken them out of the cellar again but had given them both a brutal beating at the end of Sam's first day. Brittany now had two big gashes across her back where she had been whipped while Sam had the skin rubbed raw around his ankles from being shackled all night and being forced to walk around in circles for three hours.

"Sam? Are you awake?" Brittany whispered as she lay on her blankets against the wall.

"Yeah, kinda. You okay?" He asked, rolling over to face her.

"I don't feel so good."

"Not good, how?"

"Like I'm going to vomit." She sat up as she spoke, feeling the bile rise in her throat. Sam quickly slid across the floor to where there was a small bowl and passed it to her in time for her to throw up into it. He sat beside her and held her hair out of the way.

"Thanks." Brittany whispered hoarsely when she was done.

"You're welcome, after what I'm forced to do to you, it's the least I can do voluntarily." he told her. She smiled and hugged him. They had only known each other for a few days but they already knew they were going to be great friends. Suddenly a loud thud was heard from above. Brittany gasped.

"What?" Sam asked her.

"They're coming. They never come at night." Brittany told him. The two of them brushed themselves off as much as they could and shoved the bowl into the corner. Not long after, Gruff appeared in the doorway.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, squinting into the darkness.

"Nothing. She was sick." Sam explained. Brittany had told him earlier that neither man knew her name and she wasn't willing for them to ever know, for fear of them using it to hurt someone close to her.

"Is that true?" he asked, looking directly at Brittany who nodded and looked at the floor.

"Well, you know what happens when you're sick, don't you?" he asked her. She meekly stepped forward and lifted her head. The man raised his hand and Sam flinched, thinking he was going to slap her but instead he took hold of Brittany's hair and dragged her out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Sam heard him shouting out to the other man, telling him to get Sam. After a moment, Sam was being dragged out of the room too and being taken to the room with the bed. He saw Brittany tied to the bed, once again face down. Gruff had a whip in his hand and was viciously whipping Brittany, leaving angry red marks across her bare back, each one becoming more and more red before finally splitting and bleeding. Scruffy tied Sam's hands behind his back and held his head, forcing they young boy to watch as the girl was brutally bashed. He could see that each whip was making her shudder.

After about ten minutes, the whip was put away and Sam was shoved out of the room and taken back to the cellar. He sat on the floor and waited for Brittany to come as well but she never came.


	6. Clues and Suspicions

About the same time Brittany met Sam, Quinn finally found a lead on where her friend might be. She had been walking towards Brittany's house, just as she had every Sunday for the past year, trying a different route every time. This time she was walking along the street that intersected with Brittany's street, watching the ground closely as she walked when she saw something glitter in the grass. Leaning closer, Quinn recognised a pretty little butterfly clip that Brittany had been wearing the day they became friends. She saw that it had been pressed into the ground by a car tyre. Since then, the ground had hardened, preserving the tyre tracks perfectly. Getting excited, she pulled out her phone and called the police officer that had interviewed her and Santana.

"Hello?" the officer answered.

"Hi, it's Quinn Fabray, Brittany's friend. I think I've found a lead on her whereabouts."

"Tell me where you are and I'll be right there." he told her. Quinn told him the address she was standing in front of and hung up the phone. She stood there and waited for the officer to arrive. After only a few minutes, the flashing lights of the police car came around the corner.

"So, what have you found?" the officer asked as he got out of his car and walked over to her. She pointed to the clip in the ground.

"How is this anything to do with the case?" he asked her, confused.

"It's the clip she was wearing on the day she disappeared. I'm sure of it." Quin stated firmly.

"Okay. Let me just take some measurements and photographs and I'll take the clip back to the station to be checked out."

"Okay. Can you call me if it means anything? I'm late for dinner with my parents."

"Sure. Thank-you for continuing the search, a lot of people have given up hope of finding her, what with no clues left behind." Quinn waved goodbye and skipped down the road, pulling her phone out once she was around the corner. She quickly sent a text message to her parents apologising for being late and then called Santana.

"Hey Quinn. What's up?"

"I think I may have found something to help in finding Britt. I've just left the police to look after it."

"What'd you find?" Santana sounded excited.

"One of those shiny butterfly clips she was wearing the day she went missing. It was stuck in the ground in a hardened tyre track."

"Ohmigod! The police can track what type of car left those tracks and maybe find Britt."

"I know. Well, I've gotta go, I'm already late for dinner, I just thought I'd let you know what I'd found."

"Okay. See you at school then." Santana hung up and Quinn hurried home. On the way she saw a black van drive past. After it passed, she scrunched up her nose in thought. She had seen that van somewhere before but she couldn't remember where. She shrugged it off and went on her way, the black van disappearing from her thoughts.


	7. Memories and Plans

After a few hours, Sam began to get worried. Brittany still hadn't come back to the room and there were no sounds from the house above. He began to pace the room, wondering what on earth had been happening when suddenly, the door was thrown open. Gruff appeared carrying Brittany over his shoulder. He marched into the room and threw the unconscious girl at Sam who just barely managed to catch her and stay standing. Then he left the room, slamming the door behind him. Sam laid Brittany down on the blankets and looked her over. Her face, where it wasn't covered in blood, was already starting to come out in big purple bruises. It looked like she also had a few broken ribs and she was missing a huge chunk of hair at the front of her head. Knowing he couldn't do much, he sat with her and tried to wipe off some of the blood that had begun to dry.

Brittany stirred slightly when she felt Sam's hand on her face but didn't wake up. The light from the vent showed Sam that it was almost morning. The light, although poor, showed the slightly raised lines across her torso where she'd been whipped. Sam could only assume that her back looked similar. Suddenly Brittany let out a strangled cry and sat up. She saw Sam and immediately threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing. Each sob sounded more painful than the last and Sam winced at the sound of her voice catching in her throat. The moment triggered something in his memory

_A light shone across the foggy window. Sam and his brother and sister huddled together in the corner of the darkened room. He heard a cry from another room and suddenly the door burst open and his mother ran in._

_"We have to get out of here. They think your father's the traitor and they've come to get him." she said, trying to pry the weeping girl from Sam's arms._

_"I don't want to go, mum!" she cried, holding on tighter to her brother. Sam took hold of her face and looked her straight in the eye._

_"Stacie, I need you to go with mum. I'll be right there with you, okay? You go too, Steve." he told them both and handed his sister to his mother. She quickly ran back out of the room, carrying the girl and dragging the boy along behind her. Sam took one look out the window and was about to follow his family when an ear-deafening boom sounded and rocked the whole house. He tried to scream but no sound came out. That was the last time he saw his brother or mum alive. Somehow, his sister managed to survive, but the bomb had sent shrapnel flying into his mother's head and killed her instantly. His brother on the other hand was not so lucky. He also got shrapnel flying into him, but it just landed in his arm, cutting a major artery and the poor boy bled to death._

"Shh. It's going to be okay. We'll find a way out of here, I promise." He told her, stroking what was left of her blood soaked hair.

"How. I've tried to escape before and not succeeded." she reminded him.

"There's two of us now, though. Maybe I can distract them long enough for you to get out."

"But then you'd be left here. I can't do that to you." she protested.

"Once you're out, you can go and get help to get me." Brittany thought this over and began to see how good the plan was. For the rest of the morning, they sat together, thinking over their plan.


	8. Love and Knowledge

Quinn was sitting in her bedroom, trying to focus on her homework when her phone rang. It was Santana calling. Giving up on her homework, she lay on her bed and answered the call.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I just got a call from the police station, they want us both down there asap. I'm on my way already, do you want me to come get you?" Quinn could hear the excitement bubbling over in Santana's voice

"Sure. I'll wait for you in the driveway."

"Okay. I won't be long." Santana hung up. Quinn quickly pulled on her shoes and grabbed her jacket. She ran downstairs, yelling out to her parents that she was going to the police station. She only had to stand in the driveway for a moment before Santana's bright red beetle pulled up. Quinn climbed in and threw her jacket into the backseat.

"So, what do the police want us for?" she asked as they sped down the road towards the station.

"They said they found something related to Britt's case. Something to do with that clip you found."

"Yay. Maybe they've got a lead on where she is." They pulled into the car park and got out. Inside the station, they met the young officer and sat down in his office. He pulled out a photo of the tyre marks Quinn had found and a picture of a black van. Quinn gasped.

"I know that van! I've seen it around here a few times since Britt went missing." she said.

"This is the van that matches the tyre tracks you found. We have sent out a BOLO for this van. With any luck, we can find the van and then find your friend. Do you have any idea of the whereabouts of this van?" he asked Quinn.

"No. I've only seen it driving around. Before Britt disappeared, I'd never seen it before."

"You're sure?" Quinn nodded.

"Okay. You're fee to go now. We will let you know if we find anything else." The two girls walked out of the station and got back into Santana's car.

"Feel like an ice-cream?" Santana asked.

"Sure. There's that new ice-creamery in town." For a while they drove in silence until Santana broke the silence.

"Hey Quinn. There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now. I'm not too sure how to say it though." she began.

"Just say it straight out. I've always found that's the best way." Quinn said, trying to reassure her friend. They got to the ice-cram parlour as Quinn finished speaking and got out.

"I-I think I've fallen for you." Santana told her, her face reddening.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that?" Quinn asked as they entered the ice-creamery.

"Really? I always thought you were into guys." Santana said, clearly now more confident than she had been.

"Well, I am into guys but you're something else. Wanna go back to mine afterwards?" Quinn offered. Santana nodded and they ordered their ice cream. They quickly finished it off and headed back to Quinn's house. Sitting in Quinn's bedroom for a while in awkward silence, Santana began to feel uncomfortable until suddenly Quinn muttered something that sounded like 'screw this', leaned over and kissed her full on the lips. The make-out session went on for hours, until Quinn's religious parents got home. The two girls straightened out their clothes and hair before Quinn scurried across her room to sit at her desk, leaving Santana sitting cross-legged on her bed. The brunette picked up a magazine and lay on her stomach, flipping through the magazine. Everything seemed so normal when Quinn's parents opened the door that Santana found it hard to believe that anything had happened between them not five minutes ago.


	9. Evaluation and Discovery

Yawning, Brittany rolled over, feeling the healing whip marks stretch as she moved. It had been three days since the last brutal whipping and neither her or Sam had been taken out of the cellar. However, the wounds were only beginning to heal. Every night, Sam massaged them for her, being careful not to make them bleed. Brittany's hair was stiff with dried blood and she knew she'd probably have to cut it off if she ever got out. Sam was still asleep when she woke. Deciding to let him sleep because she knew he was staying up late at night, watching over her, she sat up gently and stepped over him. She wandered over to the little patch of light coming from the vent, her ribs screaming in protest. There were at least two badly bruised if not broken ribs. Using the light she had, Brittany began her now daily evaluation of herself. The bruises that had looked so bad yesterday were now yellowing and healing. As she ran her hands across the scars on her wrists from where she had been tied up so many times. She sighed and looked up at the vent watching a bird of some sort fly past in the distance. She noticed something odd in the corner of the vent and tried to get a closer look. When she couldn't get any closer, she quickly went over to Sam and shook him.

"Sam! Wake up! I need your help."

"What?" he muttered sleepily as he rolled over. He opened his eyes and saw her face, suddenly remembering where he was. He shot up and took hold of her arms.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you again?" He asked

"No. I think I found something. I just can't get close enough to it." she dragged him over to where she'd been standing and pointed at the spot by the vent.

"What is it?" he asked, confused.

"I don't know. That's why I want to have a look." She told him, getting impatient.

"Okay. Here, stand on my hands and I'll lift you up so you can have a look." He locked his fingers together and she stood on them with one foot, balancing herself by holding onto his shoulder.

"Can you see?" he asked her.

"Yep. It's a key of some sort." she said and grabbed it. He put her back on the ground and they looked at each other.

"What do you think it opens?" he asked her as she turned it over in her hands.

"I don't know for certain. But there's something I really want it to open." she told him going over to the door. He quickly followed her and watched as the key slipped easily into the lock. He gripped her shoulder in excitement as she slowly turned the key in the lock. The door fell open a little, revealing the hallway behind. Brittany quickly shut and locked the door again.

"What'd you do that for? We could have escaped!" He asked her.

"Not now. It's day time. They would have been out and we would be caught." she told him.

"Oh. Okay then." The two of them went and sat in silence on the blankets for a while until the flap at the bottom of the door moved and their food was pushed through. They quickly ate it all and then went back to the blankets.

"So, we try it out tonight?" Sam asked. Brittany nodded. Both sighed in relief. Tonight they might finally get out of their prison.


	10. Escape and Punishment

"Are you ready? Not too sore?" Sam checked her over.

"Stop fussing over me and let's go." she told him. She slipped the key into the lock again and opened the door. Sam took hold of her hand and together they stepped out into the hall. They made their way down the hall and turned the corner, ending up facing yet another hall way. Following the various darkened hallways they tried to find a door that would lead them outside.

"We're going around in circles, Brittany." Sam whispered.

"Keep going. There's got to be a way out somewhere." Brittany whispered back. They kept going until finally they turned around another corner and ran straight into Gruff.

"Going somewhere?" he asked tauntingly. Brittany felt Sam tense beside her and was tempted to run. But she knew that Gruff would probably just follow and Scruffy would definitely be around somewhere too.

"I thought not. You two are coming with me." he told them, grabbing them both by the hair and dragging them to the room with the bed which Sam had nicknamed 'The torture Room'. Locking the door behind him, he let go of the two captives. Looking around, Sam and Brittany saw that as well as the bed, which had now been shoved against the wall, the chair was back, a small table with a piece of paper and a tiny box sat against the opposite wall to the bed and there were two clothing bags hanging on the wall, a white one and a black one.

"So, you thought you could escape, did you? Well, we're not stupid. We heard you shuffling around. Now, both of you get changed into the clothes in the bags and then we will discuss the rest of your punishment." he told them. The pair crossed the room and opened the bags. The black one contained a smart black suit while the white bag contained a stunning white wedding dress. Brittany gasped in shock and was about to turn around and ask when she heard the door open and close again. They both knew it was Scruffy so they quickly changed into the clothes, then turned and faced their captors.

"Don't you look beautiful?" Gruff cooed, reaching out to touch her face. She jerked her head away from him in defiance. Gruff growled and slapped her across the face again, making that scar tear open and bleed. Brittany saw the bright red drip onto the dress and bit her lip.

"Pay some respect, bitch. Now, we are going to be having a wedding. You, boy, go get that box." Gruff told Sam, pointing at the box on the table. Sam glared at him but went and got the box anyway. Scruffy snatched it out of his hands the minute he was in reach.

"Alright, both of you hold out your left hands." Scruffy grabbed Brittany's hand and took a gold ring out of the box. He showed her tauntingly and then shoved it on her finger. It was too small to fit over her knuckle but he kept pushing it anyway until it became completely stuck there. Then he did the same to Sam, making the ring stick on his finger.

"Come here, girl." Gruff said. Brittany stepped forward nervously. Gruff grabbed her right arm and turned her hand so her palm was facing the roof. He ran a small knife across it and the blood seeped up. Then he handed her a thin piece of plastic and did the same thing to Sam.

"Both of you, sign on the bottom of the paper using the blood and plastic. When you're done, go about your honeymoon activities, like normal, only this time you will both be chained to the wall." Gruff knelt to the ground and clapped shackles around both of their legs, chaining them both to the wall. Sam sighed and leant down to sign his name. Brittany copied him, knowing that there was no way this was legal the therefore wouldn't be recognised once they got out.


	11. Track and Break

While Brittany and Sam were being married by force, the police were searching the streets surrounding the house for signs of the black van. Quinn and Santana were sitting in the back of a police car, holding hands and waiting. They had wanted to be there when their friend was found. Suddenly, Quinn gasped.

"Look! There's a black van!" she said pointing to a house nearby. None of the officers were in the car with them but Santana opened the window and called out to an officer who was nearby.

"There's a black van over there!" All of a sudden, the police officers surrounded the house with the van and broke into it. The two girls no longer felt like this was such an adventure and stayed in the car as the officers disappeared into the house one-by-one.


	12. Rescue and Reunion

Brittany and Sam were just getting onto the bed, both still wearing the wedding outfits when a loud bang was heard. Scruffy and Gruff looked at each other in panic.

"Keep going!" Scruffy hissed and followed Gruff out the door. Not knowing what to do, Sam sat motionless for a moment before he decided to use his old shirt to bandage both their bleeding hands. He quickly tore the shirt into strips and first wrapped Brittany's hand gently but firmly, stopping the blood from dripping. Then he handed the strips to Brittany who bandaged his hand. Loud thuds were heard and then Gruff stumbled back into the room. He quickly undid the shackles from the wall and pulled on them, forcing Brittany and Sam to stand up and follow him. He ran down the hallways to the cellar where he shoved them roughly in. He slammed the door shut and Brittany heard a loud scraping noise. Suddenly, se realised that there had been a sliding section of wall designed to cover the door to the cellar.

"Sam. What if it's someone who's come to rescue us? They can't see the door." Brittany began to panic.

"Don't worry. We can still bang on the wall to get their attention." Sam told her. Brittany realised he was right. They went over to the door and began banging on it. Suddenly Gruff threw the door open.

"Shut it, you two!" He hissed and threw Brittany against the wall where she hit her head and passed out. That was the final straw for Sam who had been raised a gentleman and he hated seeing Brittany in so much pain. He swung out at Gruff, hitting the man square in the nose.

"Stupid boy." Gruff said and swung back. He missed Sam's face but got his shoulder instead. Again and again, Sam hit Gruff, blood spurting everywhere. Eventually, Gruff lay on the ground, unconscious. Sam kicked him out of the way and went over to Brittany who was still knocked out. He gently picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other under her back, being careful of the scars on her back. He carried her out of the room and began to search again for the front door.

After what felt like hours, Sam finally stumbled around a corner into a police officer. Sam was so tired from carrying Brittany and not having been properly fed for nearly a month he nearly dropped Brittany as he sank to the ground.

"I've found her!" the officer yelled out. He knelt down next to the exhausted boy and the unconscious girl. The rest of the officers quickly appeared and the two captives were carried out to the living room where an ambulance was called. They checked over Brittany, trying to stop some of the bleeding. Soon the ambulance arrived and the two were loaded onto stretcher and wheeled outside.

Quinn and Santana saw the ambulance arrive and began to get excited. Did this mean their friend had been found? They climbed out of the car, wanting to see what was happening. After a short time, two stretcher were wheeled out of the house, one of them carrying their friend. The two girls squealed in excitement and rushed forward only to be blocked by the police officers.

"I'm sorry girls but you can't see her yet. She's in pretty bad shape and needs medical attention ASAP. I can take you to the hospital where they are taking her if you like." he offered. They nodded and went back to the police car getting ready for the ride to the hospital. The officer smiled and followed them, glad that this case had been solved and that the two men who had treated these children so brutally would soon be behind bars.


	13. Recovery and Interview

The blinding light that Brittany woke to was so harsh, she was forced to close her eyes again. She suddenly felt something press on her hand. Her eyes flew open, ignoring the harsh light and looked around. She caught a glimpse of long dark hair as someone moved out of her line of sight. Before she could move she heard a voice calling out to someone.

"Come on. She's awake." Then the person appeared back in her sight. It was Santana.

"Santana?" Brittany whispered. She didn't trust her voice yet. For the past year, she had not spoken much and when she had it had either been a whisper or a scream of pain.

"Yeah. It's me. How are you feeling? We've missed you so much. We've been out looking for you everyday since you left." Santana was beginning to babble when a blonde head appeared. Quinn.

"San, shut up and let the poor girl speak." Quinn scolded, slapping Santana playfully on her arm.

"Sorry, Q. I got carried away." Brittany watched the small exchange in silence. She got the feeling there was something more than friendship between her two friends but she didn't want to ask yet so instead she asked the only other question on her mind.

"Where's Sam? Is he okay?"

"Sam? You mean the blonde guy that was found with you?" Quinn asked. Brittany nodded.

"He's in the room next door. Apparently he's completely exhausted still. Not that I blame him. The police told us that he carried you out from somewhere in that house even though he was practically passed out himself from beating up one of your captors." Santana told her.

"He saved me?" Brittany asked. She had thought that Sam would leave to find help and then come back for her.

"Yep. Although the police are kind of confused because the doctors found traces of his DNA in, er…" Quinn went red and seemed to be unable to continue her sentence. Brittany immediately knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah. They forced us to sleep together. They threatened to kill his little sister and I was already so used to the abuse there was nothing for me to fight for." Quinn and Santana listened to their friend telling them about her experience in shock. How could she be so calm about this. She had just spent a whole year being beaten and raped and she just blew it off like it was nothing?

"Uh, San can I talk to you outside? I think Britt's parents want to see her too." The two girls left, leaving behind a very confused Brittany. Her parents came rushing in a few moments later and showered her with kisses.

"Brittany, we've missed you so much. I'm so glad you're safe." her mother gushed.

"I'm glad to be back too. I'd almost given up hope." Brittany told her mum, tears forming in her eyes as she hugged her mother.

"Never give up hope. We spent every day searching for you, hoping against hope that we would find you alive and well." her father told her.

"How long was I asleep?" Brittany asked, Santana's comment about Sam still being tired ran through her head again.

"Two days. We've been talking to the young boy you were rescued with and he was telling us about how those men threw you around like a rag doll." it was a statement but Brittany could hear the question in her mother's voice. She looked around and tried to sit up. Her father rushed to help her, putting pillows behind her to prop her up. She felt the scars on her back as she leant against the pillow and winced.

"Yeah, they were petty violent but I kind of just held on to the tiny shred of hope I had left." Brittany told them. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a police officer poked his head inside.

"I'm sorry but I need to talk to Miss Pierce. I know she has only just woken but we need to get details to go any further in the case." Mrs. Pierce nodded and wiped her eyes. Then she and her husband left, promising to be back later. The officer sat in the chair by Brittany's bed.

"Alright, can you tell me exactly what happened, starting from the day you were taken?" he asked. Brittany nodded and began her tale, giving details where she could remember.


	14. Unite and Convict

Three days after Brittany woke, she was released from the hospital with strict instructions to replace the bandages on her back daily and to take antibiotics to stop infection. Her parents took her home and the moment she lay on her bed, she was asleep, the exhaustion taking over her. Her mother checked on her every five minutes, not ready to accept that her daughter wasn't going anywhere. When Brittany finally felt ready, she decided to go and see Sam. Before she'd left the hospital, she made sure she had his phone number and address as he would always be the only other person who knew what she'd gone through.

"Sam? It's Brittany. Can I come in?" Brittany called through the closed hospital door. The doctors had decided to keep Sam for a few extra days because of the deep cuts across his back. They were deeper than anything Brittany had and she wasn't sure what had made them. He never told her.

"Come in." Sam's voice was slightly muffled by the door. Brittany went into the room and sat cross-legged on the bed beside his legs, holding his hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly after they'd sat silently for a few moments. He shrugged.

"Getting better. I have no idea how I got you out of there. I can only remember thinking 'I have to save her. I can't let her stay here another second.' That's all I was thinking the entire time."

"I am so thankful you were there for the last month. I think I would have lost all hope if you hadn't come." she told him truthfully.

"You were a wreck when I got there. But it was you that got us out, Britt. If you hadn't found that key, we wouldn't have been able to get out at all. And the police never would have found us." Brittany looked down at her lap and smiled slightly.

"Sam, I want to ask you something, but I want you to know, you don't need to feel any obligation to say yes to my question, okay?"

"Go ahead. I doubt there's anything you could ask that I'd say no to, given what we've just been through." he said, laughing a little.

"I guess I just thought that, well, since we've gone through so much together, if we could maybe get to know each other more. If you know what I mean." she looked at him with her eyebrow raised in an attempt to get her unspoken message across.

"You mean, like, get together?" Sam was surprised. Brittany went red and immediately tried to back pedal on her request.

"No. I mean, yes, but you don't have to, I just…"

"Brittany. I would love to get to know you better. And we can even help each other get over our experiences at the same time." he interrupted her. He pulled her closer and kissed her. When they broke apart, Brittany grinned at him.

"Let's go jail those bastards." she said.

The trial for the two men was about two weeks after Brittany and Sam were rescued. No-one had any doubt that they would both go to jail for many years, if not for life. Brittany and Sam were both called upon to witness and as Brittany spoke, the one she called Gruff stared at her so intently that she began to cry. Sam immediately ran over to her, hugging her and whispering supporting words in her ear. Not even the judge attempted to stop Sam, even though he really wasn't supposed to be talking to her while she stood for witness. Everyone knew that the two of them had gone through a lot together.

By the end of the trial, both men had been sentenced to life without a chance of bail and both Brittany and Sam were in tears of joy. As they left the court, camera crews surrounded them and they were asked dozens of questions. It seemed the whole country had been waiting to hear what happened to the men who kidnapped them. Sam wrapped his arm around Brittany and gently led her to his car and drove her back to her house.

"Thank-you Sam, for everything you've done for me. I don't know how I can repay you." she told him as they sat in his car outside her house.

"You don't have to do anything. I will always be there for you, I promise. Now go on, your mum's calling you. I'll see you in school tomorrow." he kissed her goodbye and she stood on the side of the road waving until he turned the corner and she could no longer see him. Then she wearily trudged up the driveway to where her parents were waiting to hear the news.

THE END


End file.
